Oceania – Aucklanders fork out $9 million in fines for driving in bus lanes during rush-hour traffic

Auckland motorists have been fined an astonishing $9 million in less than 12 months for driving in bus lanes during peak-hour traffic.

The figures, released to the Herald under the Official Information Act, show 60,762 fines were issued by Auckland Transport from CCTV cameras in Fanshawe St, Queen St, Hobson St, Grafton Bridge and Khyber Pass Rd in 2018 and 2019.

A further 1158 tickets were issued in Fanshawe St in 2017, earning an extra $173,700 and taking the total revenue collected to $9.19m.

It’s a $150 fine for driving in a bus lane during restricted times.

In a breakdown of bus lane infringement revenue collected by streets, Queen St earned the highest, with $5.2m for the two part years.

That was followed by Khyber Pass Rd with $2.1m. Hobson St was also a good earner, at $1.2m.

Auckland Transport only switched on the CCTV cameras in Queen St and Hobson St in September last year, followed by Khyber Pass Rd in October.

The Grafton Bridge camera was turned on in April 2018 and Fanshawe St two years ago in July 2017.

The bulk of the infringements were made up on Queen St, with 35,315 fines issued since September last year.

However, Auckland Transport parking services and compliance group manager John Strawbridge said only a fraction of the total infringements were issued.

“In Queen St for March 2019, 276,597 vehicles travelled through the enforcement zones between Victoria and Customs St.

“AT issued 4298 offences in March for those segments of Queen St, meaning 1.5 per cent of the user group received infringement notices.”

It was a similar story for Khyber Pass Rd.

For the month of February 2019, there were 173,893 vehicles driven between Park Rd and Broadway through the restriction times of 7am to 10am and 4pm to 7pm.

Auckland Transport issued 1459 infringements, meaning less than 1 per cent received a fine.